Shark Mutulili ’25, a public policy analysis major with a politics focus, has been awarded a Rhodes Scholarship. The Rhodes Scholarship is awarded to about 100 students each year, 32 from the United States and the rest from countries across the world.
Mutulili, who is from Nairobi, Kenya, was one of two students awarded the Rhodes Scholarship for Kenya. She is the 13th Rhodes Scholar in Pomona College’s history and the second woman at Pomona to win the award. The College’s last Rhodes Scholar was Peter Chiarelli ’03.
“I am incredibly blessed to win the award,” says Mutulili.
The prestigious scholarship, the oldest fellowship award in the world, covers all expenses to study at the University of Oxford for two or more years. Mutulili plans to pursue a Master of Public Policy at Oxford. “The UK’s public policy programs are quite global and international,” she says, as she looks to utilize her graduate training back home in Kenya long term.
Her ultimate hope is to “shape better systems to see the dignity in every human being,” she says.
When Mutulili learned she was one of ten finalists for the Kenya award, she had to quickly make travel arrangements to fly to Kenya in under a week for the final interview. She is grateful to Pomona’s Office of the President for providing the funds for her travel. The day after the interview, while preparing to head to the airport, she received a congratulatory phone call. “I was jumping up and down,” she says. “I was in complete shock.”
“Shark stands out at Pomona for her joyous spirit and her thoughtful and caring engagement across differences, whether of opinion, identity or discipline,” says President G. Gabrielle Starr. “We at Pomona are so proud of her and thrilled for her to take advantage of these new opportunities at Oxford.”
At Pomona, Mutulili has been “privileged to learn from classrooms, experiences and discussions that have shaped the way that I see the world,” she says.
Her current senior thesis focuses on comprehensive sex education to prevent gender-based violence against adolescent girls and women in Kenya. She is looking at tribal knowledge, traditions and practices as well as colonial histories of education to understand how gender biases and power imbalances affect the policies that are created.
One of the criteria for the Rhodes Scholarship, since the award’s inception in 1902, is “moral force of character and instincts to lead and to take an interest in your fellow human beings.”
As a recently announced Napier Initiative Fellow, Mutulili will continue her work to improve living conditions for children and mothers in two rural prisons in Kenya, providing for immediate needs such as baby food, diapers and cots as well as working towards long-term goals like improving sanitation, providing water tanks and creating childcare spaces.
This year, Mutulili has served as Pomona’s senior class president, leading committees to improve student life and foster community on campus.
“I wanted to serve and to understand the way people think, the things that bring them joy and the challenges they’ve gone through,” she says. “I’ve tried my best for this to be a senior year worth remembering.”
After learning she was a Rhodes Scholar finalist, Mutulili shared the news with her academic advisor David Menefee-Libey, William A. Johnson Professor of Government and professor of politics. She was nervous about sharing the news with very many people, but she wanted to let him know, as someone who has supported her significantly at Pomona.
“Every time I talk with Shark, I learn about yet another amazing thing she’s been in the middle of,” says Menefee-Libey. “And through all that she remains a kind and joyful person. I can’t wait to see what she does next.”